Kennesaw Mountain

Paul and I have been putting off buying a hiking backpack because they are so darn expensive.  But we found the exact one we wanted on Craig's List and it was only used once!  It is awesome and last weekend we finally got out and used it.

There is a nice "little" (compared to Utah Mountains) mountain about 15 minutes from our house.  They have lots of trails both paved and on the mountain.  We wanted to do about 3-4 miles, but this turned into 6-7 miles before we knew it!  Hayden loved riding in the backpack so much so that she only got out once for about a half hour and walked with us.  She had to jump off every rock we saw, so it took us quite a bit of time.

It was such a perfect day to go.  It was a bit overcast and in the low 70s.  Despite this, Paul seemed to sweat through all of his clothes.  Check out his pants!

By the end the sweat completely covered his shorts.  Hayden kept saying, "dad, you're soooo sweaty!"

We got to see 3 deer which Hayden thought was great.  We'll definitely do this again but probably chose a shorter trail!  We were all kind done by the end!

Robinsons Come to Visit

We've been lucky to have a lot of family come and visit us this past year!  My mom and brothers came out for the first time since we've lived here the first week of July and we had a great time despite all the rain.  It literally rained everyday they were here and some of the days it rained ALL day!  It kind of put a damper on the 4th of July, but we still managed to have fun.

They flew in on Monday July 1st and we started things off by going to the Georgia Aquarium on Tuesday morning.  Hayden warmed right up to uncle Ian and asked for a ride in the line to get tickets.

Hayden and my mom by her favorite fish Nemo

The highlights of the day were the Beluga Whales, the sharks, and of course the dolphin show.  Hayden kept asking the whole time we were there if it was time to see the dolphins.  This is right before the show began.  She's seen it about 4-5 times but every time she sees its like it's the first time.

We also saw a few movies while they were here.  We took Hayden to see Despicable Me II and my brothers and Paul and I saw The Man of Steele.

Like I said, the 4th of July literally rained all day so the fireworks were all cancelled as well as the parades and any other outdoor activity.  So we took my brothers to the gym and gave them a good leg workout and then had a big 4th of July dinner.  That night we met up with our friends the Heinholds for dessert.

Hayden was constantly asking for her Uncle Ian's attention and he was so good to play so many games with her.  She loved having him chase her around the house. Here Hayden is "sick" and Ian is taking good care of her.  Hayden also enjoyed every morning with my mom while I slept in!  They watched Glee, read books, and my mom even got Hayden interested in puzzles by bringing her some new ones!

We were able to take them to Pickett's Mill which is about 10 minutes from our house and a significant Civil War battlefield.  Due to the rain, we were unable to go on the walk to really see the trenches and get a better feel for the area.  But we were able to walk around for a bit.

Saturday we took them to get some southern barbecue at one of our favorite places, Jim and Nicks.  That night we took them to Stone Mountain.  My mom taught Geology for a bit so we knew we needed to make a trip there. We went on Saturday night and so they not only had the laser show, but also a fireworks presentation.  The only problem was that again it rained right after we left the top of the mountain and so the grass was SOAKING wet and it was so humid that the smoke from the fireworks just sat right in front of the mountain blocking most of the laser show!  Oh well, at least it wasn't hot!

Sean & Ian on top of Stone Mountain 

 Hayden on top and her funny new poses

My mom and the boys!

One of my favorite pictures from their trip.  On top of Stone Mountain!

Monday was their last full day in Atlanta and we actually got some sun, so we took them to Acworth Beach in the morning before the rain came in and we had a great time.  Again Ian was so good to spend so much time in the water with Hayden and Sean even got in and squirted them with the water gun while Hayden shrieked with delight!

Ian & Hayden

Sean working on his tan

That night in between the rain we did some of our own fireworks.  Hayden had been looking forward to this the whole weekend and I think my brothers had been too.

Sean and Ian lit all the fireworks for us and it was so fun to see Sean get so happy and act so natural.  If I had known he would have so much fun I would have bought a pack of fireworks for each night!  We did have a pack of pretty weak fireworks and right after I made some statement about how lame they were, one shot off the ground and barely missed my face!  Everyone had a good laugh and Hayden cannot stop talking about it. After the fireworks ended we caught fireflies and frogs.  It was a great way to end their visit here.  

Tuesday early afternoon we drove them to the airport and Hayden was so sad to leave them.  She had it in her head that she was getting on that airplane with them.  She just kept crying and saying, "I need my grandma" and "I want to live in Utah."  It was pretty sad and made me feel bad that we live so far away.  But I'm so glad they were able to come and visit.  It was a relaxed, enjoyable week.  Hopefully we'll see them again soon!

Brave Girl!

Hayden was assigned to give a prayer in junior primary.  She has given the opening prayer and a talk this past year so she knew what to do this time.  They asked that a parent come at 11 am to help her with the closing prayer and both Paul and I spaced it!  The moment I saw her after church I realized I had forgotten and went to the leaders in primary to apologize.  They were so excited to tell me about Hayden.  She just got right up and said the prayer all by herself!  She blessed a new boy in her class, her mom and dad, and grandmas and grandpas and then started to bless everyone else in primary that she knows!  The Primary President helped her wrap things up and she was done.  I can't believe she got up and did it on her own.  I would have been crying for my mom at that age and she just got up and did it.

Then in her primary class she told them all a very intricate story tying in the Noah's Ark lesson but adding mermaids and crocodiles to the mix.  Her teacher has shocked at how well she told a story.

I'm so glad Hayden is turning into an outgoing, social little girl.  I was always more shy and it just makes life harder!  Just another way in which she takes after her Dad!

Happy Father's Day

Hayden and I started a new tradition this year.  I found a father's day questionnaire online and had her answer a number of questions.  I then got a binder and told Paul we'd add one each year.  It was so funny to listen to her answers.  Like,
"My dad likes to eat_______" her response "food," of course
And "My dad likes to wear_______clothes", right again
One last cute one, "If you could give your dad anything it would be a ________ kiss"

We went to our friends the Heinholds for dinner and games and had a great time as usual.  I brought my camera and specifically told myself to take a pictures and failed to do so again!  Seriously we just have too much fun!

We are so lucky to have you Paul!  It's been fun to watch Hayden and Paul become closer as she has gotten older.  She used to be a real mamma's girl, but as she gets older, she has finally figured out who the fun parent really is.  She got hurt awhile back and ran to her daddy first, which has never happened.  At first I was a little sad, but then realized how happy I was for her to have this special relationship with her daddy!

Tonsillectomy

Poor Hayden has sounded like Darth Vader ever since she has been about a year old.  So at 1 1/2 we had her adenoids removed, which helped, but her breathing was still very strained while sleeping.  Paul and I could hear her snoring anywhere in our house!  So we knew it was time to have the tonsils removed now that she was a bit older.  When the doctor saw them again now that she is 3 1/2 he was shocked at how big they were.  On a scale of 1-4 hers were a 4+.  He said it was essential to remove them because if she got sick and they became swollen it would completely obstruct her airway.  I'm thankful now that she hasn't had many problems getting sick!  When she had little colds, she would struggle to breath at night and had sleep apnea.

So the surgery was scheduled for June 10th 2013.  We talked a lot about what was going to happen and used the words, "the Dr. is going to make your tonsils smaller so you can breath better," instead of "he's going to cut them out!"  I told her she was going to get to watch as much TV and movies as she wanted and drink milk and eat popsicles all day.  She was way pumped!

The morning of the surgery we had to wake her up at 5:45 and she jumped out of bed and was so excited to get there.  She enjoyed laying in the bed during all the registration and even got a new present for cooperating with all the Dr's and nurses!  They gave her some calming medicine, which was hilarious to watch her once it kicked in.  She was out of it and could not even answer simple questions.  She'd just stare at us and giggle.

The surgery went well as expected and only lasted about 25 minutes.  The nurses led us to her room where she was starting to come out of the anesthesia.  She was crying a bit which the nurses say is normal because they are disoriented.  She slept about an hour longer and then we woke her up and started getting ready to go home.  She refused to drink apple juice or eat a popsicle which kind of delayed things, but she finally drank a little water so we could go.  She got to ride in a wagon to the car and thought this was awesome!

We had several friends come visit her on Monday and dropped off popsicles.  Thanks Erin Barnes and the Heinhold family!  And my new friend Teresa came by and gave Hayden a Barbie Mermaid.  She's carried it around all week!  The first few days were great as long as I kept giving her pain meds every 4 hours all day and night.  By the 3rd day she really stopped eating much of anything and it was a struggle to get her to drink anything.  Although she was happy which I am grateful for.  Today we're on day 8 and she seems to be over the worst part.  She hasn't needed medicine today and ate better than she has in awhile!

I'm glad she's been a happy girl, but I can't wait for our life to be back to normal again and for her to be eat normal food!

Random Things

Two things.  I have to blog this so I never forget:

1)  Hayden and I have been having lots of talks about listening to mom and dad and that we get to decide some things without negotiation being part of the deal.  I said, "just say, yes ma'm or yes sir and do it" and she responded:  "Yes your majesty!"

She proceeded to call me "your majesty" through most of the day.  Where does she come up with this stuff.  She is definitely going to give us a run for our money!

2)  Paul's brother Trent came into town for a BYU baseball recruiting trip and we got to spend some time with him.  Hayden was a little shy at first but loved playing with her uncle Trent! We may get to see him again at the end of the summer for another recruiting trip.

7 Years

Paul and I have now officially been married longer than the time we spent dating!  I can't believe I have known him for over 14 years now.  How we have grown and changed.  Paul was nice enough to take the day off of work, so we got to spend the day together and that night we went to a fancy restaurant in Atlanta called The Canoe.  It's set right by the Chattahoochee River and we got to eat on the patio and had a beautiful view of their garden and the river.

The food was fantastic and the company was excellent too!  I am ridiculous and get embarrassed to have people take pictures of us together so we didn't get one in front of the river, but it really was beautiful!

When we got home I found that Paul had set up a fort for a movie night.  It was really fun and something we have never done before!